I started off really strongly the last couple of weeks in November and then I went to bed one night and woke up and realized that IT’S THE 15TH OF DECEMBER. Nah—no freaking out here! Although I have been doing lots of things around the house—putting up the village (posts coming next week), creating a garland for my stairs, making wreaths for the front doors, and other miscellaneous holiday decorating that were not Pinspired.

I have lots of plans for Pinterest things in the next couple of weeks, but so far I’ve completed three food pins and two crafty pins.

First up—Banana muffins. I have a freezer full of bananas that went brown before we could eat them, so I’ve slowly been cooking them up into bread. I wondered if Elle might like little banana muffins for her breakfast instead of pancake or waffles so I tried a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com (they are a no-(or rarely) fail site for me). Verdict? Delicious. And they froze beautifully. Nom nom nom. Original Pin. Original Source.

Second – Roasted Chicken in a Bundt Pan. I’ll talk more about this when I wrap up my Operation Bundt Pan (which I have not forgotten about thankyouverymuch). A recipe I pinned from Food.com. The results were gorgeous and the taste was delicious. I might add a bit more spice rub next time, but otherwise it was yum. I shredded most of the chicken to stick in the freezer for another day. Bottom Line: so easy and clean-up was even easier. Original Pin. Original Source.

Third – Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes. This one from Annie’s Eats. I botched this one up because I was making this for a big crowd at Thanksgiving so used many more potatoes than she did and then just winged the rest of the measurements. I love the addition of the bacon and the garlic powder but the results were a bit dry. I added some more milk when I reheated and it was much better. Scott was not a fan—mostly because I didn’t use as much butter as he would have liked. Original Pin. Original Source. (not my picture below)

And now to the crafty stuff!! And I’m tempted to just post about my non-Pinterest items, pin them, and then count them towards the challenge. But that would be mega cheating, right?? Ha!

First – Hex Quilt Hand-Basting. Thanks to Lisa I’ve found my alternative to learning how to crochet or knit! I love working with these little babies. I can do about 9-12 of them while watching an hour-long TV show and can even do them lying in bed or in the car. Now I just need a pin to tell me how to hand-sew them all together! Original Pin. Original Source.

Second – Silver spray-painted decorations.JoAnn brought this pin to my attention. The original pin has “looking glass” or “mirror” spray-paint, but I couldn’t find so just went with Chrome. I thought about spray painting fake fruit but didn’t want to pay that much and found these cinnamon scented pine cones at the grocery store. Win Win. Now what else can I spray paint? Original Pin. Original Source.

I still have several plans for the rest of the month including scrapbook paper gift cards, crockpot apple sauce, and maybe some photography tips, but we’ll see. ;)

Lisa – I do peel the bananas before I freeze them but I don’t think you have to. Just saves a step later. I freeze them in a ziploc baggie and just add bananas to the bag and when I have enough I bake!

The baked potatoes sound really nice, I might have to suggest we try it ourselves one evening. Looking forward to seeing the result of the hexagons :) I’m wondering whether looking on Pinterest will make the season seem more real.

I love the chicken idea, too bad I don’t own a Bundt pan. You are really coming along with your hexes! I need to make some decoration for the railing between the kitchen and the family room. I’m thinking I’ll be waiting until the after Christmas sales to pick up stuff for that.